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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Computation: Responding to Assessment Results

“You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere, and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost. What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.” - Helen Keller

I assessed students' computation skill yesterday.

The results were much different than I anticipated given their daily work.

Yet, the results helped me to plan a responsive path of teaching

The few who demonstrated competency in all areas have reached "teacher" status and will be matched with a few students who have unique needs. They'll practice together.

Those who are close to competency will meet with me to shore up a few areas of need. I expect this group to learn quickly and move to competency and "teacher" status soon.

It's a matter of lots of practice right now to get the whole team to mastery. Practice that will include the following:

Explicit teaching

Video coaching

Peer coaching.

Online and off line practice.

Frequent formative assessment.

Encouragement and inspiration.

Once we pass through this initial competency step, we'll then embark on the next step which includes computation and problem solving.